Yesterday morning, I had planned on running the Race for the Grasshopper. I found the race on one of our links from South Carolina and it looked like an interesting race. Joseph and I had registered early and Joyce and Jim were going to drive up with us so that the Millen crowd would be well represented. The race is held in the Cowpens National Battlefield Park near Spatanburg, SC. The Grasshopper was a cannon captured by the Continental Army near the end of that battle. But Friday night, I received a message from the race director saying that the park service had closed the park due to the snow and icy conditions. Anna was really nice and offered to return our registration fee or mail our packets. The race has been rescheduled for February 1, same day as the Tybee 5K, marathon and half-marathon. I know Jim and Joyce and a group from Millen are going to Savannah, I’m not sure what I’ll do yet.

Are we getting just a little too soft???? It was too cold for us to race.....but on January 17, 1781, it wasn’t too cold to fight one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War. The Battle of Cowpens was considered a major victory for the Patriots and possibly a turning point in the Revolutionary War. Brigadier General Daniel Morgan, under the command of Nathaniel Greene, defeated the army of Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s British Regulars from the army of Lord Charles Cornwallis. The Continental Army lost 124 men, 24 killed and 100 wounded. Col. Tarleton lost over 800 men, 110 killed, 200 wounded, and 512 captured. I was really looking forward to racing on the battlefield. Too cold for Ray Miller??? Never!!! The park service didn‘t know about my history of racing in really nasty conditions. Now I’ll admit that I am not a big fan of cold weather running, but if Daniel Morgan and the guys could fight for our freedom in the cold icy conditions in 1781, surely we could manage to survive a 5K road race. I guess if the park service had been running the place in 1781, old Daniel and the boys would have had to put the battle off until May or June.

TOP FIVE COLDEST RACES OF MY LIFE, BY RAY MILLER.

# 5 -- Carolina Marathon, Columbia, Feb. 20, 1983

Tim Rountree and I went to Columbia for his first marathon. The temperature was in the high 20’s, and there was a light rain falling. We had trouble finding the starting line and we were still getting our stuff out of Tim’s trunk when the race started. We were about 2 or 3 minutes behind the LAST RUNNER at the start of the race. It was downhill from there.

#4 -- Savannah Marathon, Savannah, January 10, 1981

Went to this marathon alone...what was I thinking? My time was 4:08:31. Notes from running log: Cold windy, temp in the 30’s, wind on the open runways made it tough. Had good first half, then died, last 3 miles took 38 minutes.

# 3 -- Stone Mountain 10 Miler, Atlanta, January 18, 1992

Randy talked me into getting up at 3 a.m., then driving to Stone Mountain for a 10 mile race. There was an ice storm the night before, and we were worried about not being able to get out of Atlanta because of the weather. The race was 2 laps around Stone Mountain. There was ice on the trees and the wind was blowing at gale force. Notes from running log: Stone Mountain 10 miler with Randy, temp in mid 20’s, ice everywhere, very windy, Randy had good race, I ran 1:21:17, glad to get back in the truck. Glad to get out of Atlanta.

# 2 -- Savannah Half-Marathon, Savannah, January 9, 1982

I took one of my cross country runners with me, the temp. was in the mid 20’s when the race started. Everyone was bundled in sweatshirts and plastic trash bags. The starter gave us several warnings about ice on the two bridges that we would cross during the race. Notes from running log: Took Kelvin McClain with me to do the half-marathon. He didn’t have a cap, I let him borrow my red ski cap. Cold and windy, ice on bridges, tough.

#1 Bartram Trail Run, Clark’s Hill Lake, near Augusta, February 27, 1982

I took Rob Sharkey and Rob Newbern to Clark’s Hill Lake for a little cross country race. We had an ice storm the night before, I think the parents were really surprised when I showed up for the boys. The course was muddy, and ice covered the trees in the woods around the lake. It was so cold, the race director had contacted some members of the Army Corps of Engineers and they had brought up a big army tent and helped build a really nice bon fire for the runners. In my running log that night, I wrote my first "long story about running". Notes from running log: Raining-sleet, icy, muddy, around 24*. We started on a red clay road. Mud was ankle deep. After about 2 miles we turned into the pines, trail was about 3 ft. wide. Straw and leaves were on the trail so mud was no problem. I ran with a group of 7 runners until the 1 mile marker. We had to run single file. It was rough running up and down, jumping logs, ducking under trees. At about 1 1/2 miles, I left the group. Then it got really quiet. The only noise was by breathing, my feet on the wet straw, and the ice falling from the trees. I passed the 2 & 3 mile signs alone. Between 3 & 4, I caught two other runners. One was struggling, I stayed with them as we ran up a wide, steep, muddy, red clay hill. When we turned into the woods, I passed the one who was struggling. The green guy (green sweat shirt) and I ran in single file for about 1/4 mile. I passed him just before we reached the 4 mile marker. I heard him pick up the pace to keep me from pulling away. I called out over my shoulder that if he wanted to pass, I would move over, he said no. We came out of the woods back onto a muddy clay road, I could still hear him, we made some small talk as we approached a gravel stretch of road. He was really breathing hard. I knew what he was thinking, and he knew what I was thinking. Until now I was just running, suddenly I was in a race, we both knew it. I picked up the pace on the gravel road, he came with me for a few hundred yards, then I could hear him dropping back. We hit the last stretch of mud I could hardly hear the slosh of his shoes in the mud. I had him There were no ribbons, medals or trophies for green guy or me. But on a cold, icy, wet, muddy trail run, we had our own little race. Not may people get that chance. Later, around the fire, I saw green guy, we smiled and talked about how much fun the run was, he said the wanted to stay with me but couldn’t. Rob Newbern, Rob Sharkey and I just smiled. That was my trophy for that day.

Do you have a favorite cold weather running story? If you do, please email or call me. I know the other club members would love to hear about it.